CVE-2024-24915 in SmartConsole
Summary
by MITRE • 06/29/2025
Credentials are not cleared from memory after being used. A user with Administrator permissions can execute memory dump for SmartConsole process and fetch them.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/03/2025
This vulnerability represents a critical memory exposure issue that undermines the fundamental security principles of credential handling within network security management systems. The flaw exists in how the SmartConsole process manages sensitive authentication data, specifically failing to properly clear authentication credentials from memory after their successful use. This represents a direct violation of security best practices and creates an exploitable vector for privilege escalation attacks. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the system level where administrative privileges are already granted, making it a high-value target for threat actors seeking to escalate their access within a network security infrastructure.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate memory management protocols within the SmartConsole application. When administrative users perform authentication operations, the system properly validates their credentials but fails to implement proper memory sanitization procedures. This creates a persistent exposure where credential data remains accessible in memory even after authentication is complete, allowing for potential extraction through memory dumping techniques. The flaw manifests as a failure to execute secure memory deallocation routines that would normally overwrite sensitive data with random values or zeros to prevent recovery. This memory persistence issue is classified under CWE-115 which specifically addresses improper handling of sensitive information in memory, making it a direct implementation of well-known security weaknesses in credential management systems.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential theft to encompass complete system compromise when combined with appropriate attack vectors. An attacker with administrative privileges can leverage memory dumping capabilities to extract credential information from the SmartConsole process, potentially gaining access to multiple systems and services that rely on the compromised administrative credentials. This creates a cascading security risk where a single compromised administrative account can provide access to entire network security infrastructures. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where SmartConsole is used for centralized security management, as it allows attackers to maintain persistent access to critical security controls. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1003.001 which covers credential dumping and T1059.001 for execution through command and scripting interfaces, creating a complete attack chain from initial compromise to persistent access.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including enhanced memory protection mechanisms, regular memory sanitization routines, and comprehensive monitoring of memory dump activities. The solution requires implementing secure coding practices that ensure all credential data is immediately overwritten in memory upon use, followed by proper deallocation of memory segments. System administrators should enable memory protection features such as address space layout randomization and data execution prevention to make memory extraction more difficult. Regular security audits should include memory analysis to detect unauthorized memory dumping activities, while privileged access controls should be strictly enforced to limit who can perform memory operations on security management systems. Additionally, implementing principle of least privilege for administrative accounts and regular credential rotation procedures will minimize the impact of any successful exploitation attempts, as the compromised credentials would have limited validity window.